All posts tagged ‘Chicken’

Hey! City of DeBary, Florida…Don’t touch J.J Hart’s ducks! The “ducks” in question are actually chickens that the Hart family purchased to help supply his diet with fresh eggs. Over time, a wonderful thing happened. J.J developed a connection with the chickens and now affectionately calls them his “ducks.” You see, two-year old J.J has autism spectrum disorder; a complex disorder of the brain that causes a some children and adults to have difficulty with communication, behavior, and social interaction. The chickens are therapeutic for J.J and are helping him overcome some of his autistic traits including some of his communication hurdles.

Since having the chickens, J.J has finally started to talk and even said “I love you” for the first time.

The problem is that the city claims the chickens are a “public nuisance” and not legal in a residential neighborhood. The Harts have done their homework and after looking over all the codes, they can’t find a single one that says “no chickens.” Despite the lack of evidence for this “no chicken code,” the city Code Enforcement Board found the Harts in violation. After December 9, if they have not gotten rid of J.J’s chickens (“ducks”) and come into “compliance” with the City or made their plea to the City Council, the Council will begin fining the family $100 a day that the chickens remain on their property.

J.J and one of his “ducks” \ Image provided by Daytona Beach News Journal

It should be noted that the neighbors don’t mind the chickens. One neighbor stated his dog is more annoying to the neighborhood than the chickens.

Not everyone must feel that way, because two weeks ago someone beheaded four of the chickens (two hens and two babies) while the family was asleep. During the police investigation, the family kept J.J inside, who kept insisting he wanted to see his ducks. I can’t imagine the horror and the pain the family must have experienced knowing that four of J.J’s beloved “ducks” were gone.

The Sheriff department concluded that it was an animal and not a human that beheaded the chickens. The family strongly disagrees. At the scene of the crime, there was were two concrete blocks and a piece of wood by the coop door, that the family claims they did not put there. So, either a very sophisticated animal moved a concrete block and a piece of wood over to the door to prop it open or a human with no heart put it there when they arrived to behead the innocent poultry.

To aid them in their fight, the family has hired attorney Mark Nation. Nation argues that the family should be allowed to keep their chickens first of all because they are not in violation of any of the cited codes and there is no prohibition whatsoever from keeping chickens. However, if the city refuses to reverse its decision, then Nation is requesting a variance pursuant to section 1-9 of the Land Development Code.

If the city still refuses, then Nation is requesting that the City grant the Harts an accommodation under the “Federal Fair Housing Act and the Florida Fair Housing Act. These acts require cities to make allowances for anybody who has a disability,” and since J.J has a disability, the city is required to make accommodations for him to keep the chickens.

Nation also does not believe the Sheriff department’s findings that the chickens were killed by an animal and not by an angry human.

The City has granted the family a 60-day grace period from the fines. Rather than waiting until the last minute, the Harts have chosen to make their plea on November 7th, 2012 at 7 pm. If you are a resident of DeBary, Florida, you have a right to speak at the hearing and let your voice be heard. Check out J.J’s Facebook page to learn how. For those of you who can’t attend the hearing, you can help by emailing J.J’s mother and requesting to sign her “Concerned Citizen” petition.

Now, on to the politics of this whole matter. Regulations are there to help maintain order and balance, but at what cost?

This child is benefiting from the chickens and their neighbors don’t mind them being there. The Mayor of DeBary, Bob Garcia, has stepped up and said that even if the Harts are violating an ordinance (and even he isn’t 100% sure they are), an exception should be made for J.J’s sake.

So what’s the problem?

Does the City just want to play big man on campus or do they know so little about autism that they are ignorant to the impact their decision could have on a young child?

While I understand the city needing to enforce their own code, I also understand what it’s like to have a child who needs help overcoming autistic traits. If this were my son, I would fight City Hall to my fullest extent to help my son.

What do you think? If in fact the code does exist, should the city turn the other way in an effort to help J.J or should they still enforce the code and force the chickens out of the hen house and into the fryer? Let us know in the comments or better yet, contact the DeBary City Council and let them know how you feel!

This week we’ve got a comprehensive collection of recipes from our own Kris Bordessa, excerpted from her very cool book, Great Medieval Projects You Can Build Yourself. So you don’t have time or energy or the extra cash to get to a Renaissance Faire this year? Why not make our own at home? The book is written for the 9-12 set, but anyone can benefit from the factoids below, as well as indulge in the historical flavors!

A Medieval Feast

A medieval feast was a grand event. Feasts celebrated special events or honored guests visiting the castle. The food in itself was entertainment and often the castle cooks presented elaborately decorated platters of food. For instance, the cook might serve a roasted peacock that that had its grand tail feathers put back in place, making for quite an impressive dish.

You might think the best dishes and silverware would be used at a feast, but medieval era people didn’t use the same kinds of tableware that we do today. Instead of plates, diners each used what was called a trencher — a piece of stale bread. Diners chose food from a common platter using their fingers, and placed their morsels on their trencher. The only utensil that people used at a meal was a knife. This was important for cutting meat. People used their fingers for all other eating. Diners frowned upon people who licked their fingers while sharing a plate with others — talk about bad manners! Between courses, servants brought bowls of water so that diners could clean their hands.

Make Your Own Trencher

You’ll need:

a round loaf of French bread

a sharp knife

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Slice the bread horizontally into ½ inch thick pieces.
3. Place the bread pieces directly onto the wire racks in your oven. Bake for about half an hour. If the bread is crispy, like toast, it’s done. If not, continue baking, making sure to check it every ten minutes.
4. When the bread is done, use these trenchers instead of plates at your medieval feast (you may want to use a tablecloth!) Continue Reading “Eat Like a Geek: A Medieval Feast” »

This week’s installment of Eat Like a Geek travels far from last week’s tour of England and France, and goes all the way across the world to Hawai’i! GeekMom Patricia shares one of her favorite dishes, and gives us a look at its intriguing history and creator.

Huli Huli Chicken

by Patricia Vollmer

(Note: my mother’s recipe adapted from one printed in the Honolulu Advertiser’s food column in the 1970s)

Cooking Directions: At least 6, preferably 24 hours before cooking, combine all ingredients except chicken and pour into a zip-top bag. Fill the bag with the chicken pieces and seal the bag, attempting to evacuate as much air as possible. Allow to marinate, turning the bag occasionally.

Grill the chicken according to your favorite method, basting the exterior with marinade as you see fit.

For a less-stressful grilling experience, I recommend buying a package of like-sized parts, such as only thighs or only breasts.

History of Huli Huli Chicken

Huli huli chicken is one of my first culinary memories of living in Hawaii from 1977-1980. My dad would hear about the local high school holding huli huli chicken barbeque fundraisers. You simply drove over to the high school parking lot, where dozens of rotisseries were spinning over kiawe (pronounced “key-ah-vay”) wood charcoal, and cotton mops were dunked into metal garbage cans full of the marinade to baste them en masse. For $5 you got a whole chicken wrapped in newspaper. It was delicious! You know how they say the sense of smell triggers the most memory? The smell of the marinated chicken cooking on my grill floods my brains with memories of my childhood in Hawaii.

It’s a ritual that marks the beginning of summer. The weather warms up and you finally get to fire up the old grill and make some burgers. The thing is, it’s never really that simple. Everyone has what they think is the perfect combination of seasonings and technique to make the absolutely most wonderful, amazing, tasty, delicious food that anyone has ever tasted in the history of the world. Admit it. You went to your friend’s house and you looked at how he grilled and just knew you could do it better. Well, the Big Green Egg looks at all of you using traditional gas grills and thinks the very same thing. It knows how to do it better.

The Big Green Egg (BGE) is a ceramic kamado-style charcoal grill which provides superior insulation that makes very high and very low temperatures easy to maintain. It doesn’t matter it you’re looking for seared steakhouse style meats, oven-baked pizzas and bread, or slow-smoked brisket, this grill can do it all. The temperature is controlled by a simple sliding metal door that regulates how much air goes in and a daisy wheel vent on the top that regulates how much air goes out.